Our grade: 4 checks
Based on public data, not a full audit. See how we grade. Something changed? Request a re-grade.
Community rating
- 5 1
- 4 5
- 3 3
- 2 0
- 1 0
Trust in production
- Trust it - 67%
- With caveats - 22%
- Wouldn't - 11%
78% would recommend this server
How reviewers scored it
- Setup & docs 3.7
- Auth experience 3.6
- Reliability 3.7
- Maintainer responsiveness 4.1
Why it got a B
Official and open source, with 3 committers in the last 90 days and no advisories. The hosted server uses OAuth by default; the local stdio server takes your account-wide API login and password as environment variables. Every request is billed to your DataForSEO balance, so set a spend limit. Biggest deduction: the local HTTP mode runs without TLS and its network binding isn't documented, so transport was scored conservatively.
How to connect
// ~/.cursor/mcp.json (hosted, OAuth)
{ "mcpServers": { "dataforseo": { "url": "https://mcp.dataforseo.com/v3/mcp" } } }Is DataForSEO MCP Server safe?
Is DataForSEO MCP Server safe to use?
DataForSEO MCP Server grades B (solid, with minor gaps). Login is required, but access is coarse: one sign-in or key covers more than your agent needs, so grant the narrowest account you can. It runs locally over stdio, so it acts with your machine's access.
Does DataForSEO MCP Server have known vulnerabilities?
Not in our current data: it has no open CVEs or advisories. We re-check as new ones are published.
Does DataForSEO MCP Server support authentication?
Yes. It requires a login, so access can be tied to a person or a scoped key.
Alternatives in SEO Data
- A Ahrefs MCPOfficial hosted Ahrefs server for backlinks, keywords, and site metrics, with OAuth sign-in.
- A CrakSEO SEO Tools MCP ServerCrakSEO's hosted, read-only server for live Google and Bing results, keyword volume and difficulty, backlinks, rankings, competitor gaps, site audits, Google Maps ranks and ChatGPT or Perplexity brand mentions, paid from prepaid API credits.
- B AgentSEO MCP ServerHosted or local server with 45 tools for search results, keyword and backlink research, content briefs and rank tracking; paid by credits, API key required.
- B BotSee MCP ServerOfficial hosted server that runs AI-visibility analyses (question sets across personas and models) and returns competitor, keyword and cited-source results; uses paid credits.
- B Datrace MCP ServerHosted server for Amazon marketplace research that looks up ASINs, keyword demand, rankings, traffic, ad signals and category data; free beta with monthly credits.
Embed this badge
[](https://trustedmcp.io/servers/dataforseo-mcp)<a href="https://trustedmcp.io/servers/dataforseo-mcp"><img src="https://trustedmcp.io/badge/dataforseo-mcp.svg" alt="TrustedMCP grade B" height="80"></a>Community reviews
Mixed feelings after two weeks
Works well enough for what I need. Updates land regularly, and nothing broke when I upgraded. Sign-in flow was painless and I never had to paste a key into a config file. Keeping it to local experiments for now.
Used for Weekly ranking checks
- Setup & docs 3/5
- Auth experience 2/5
- Reliability 2/5
- Maintainer responsiveness 5/5
Worth the five minutes to set up
I use this almost daily. Auth is handled properly, and revoking access later was one click. Filed an issue and got a reply within two days.
Used for Competitor gap analysis
- Setup & docs 4/5
- Auth experience 5/5
- Reliability 3/5
- Maintainer responsiveness 4/5
OK for read-only work
It does the job, but it took some tweaking. Nice to use something maintained by DataForSEO rather than a random fork. Scoped the token to just what the agent needs and it respected that.
Used for Backlink audits
- Setup & docs 3/5
- Auth experience 3/5
- Reliability 3/5
- Maintainer responsiveness 3/5
Surprisingly polished
Tried it on a side project first, then rolled it out at work. Auth is handled properly, and revoking access later was one click. The OAuth flow worked first time in Claude Code. Easy recommendation.
Used for Keyword research for a content plan
- Setup & docs 4/5
- Auth experience 3/5
- Reliability 4/5
- Maintainer responsiveness 5/5
Exactly what I needed from DataForSEO
Been running this for about a month now. Releases come often and the changelog is clear. Sign-in flow was painless and I never had to paste a key into a config file. Happy to run it in production.
Used for Keyword research for a content plan
- Setup & docs 4/5
- Auth experience 4/5
- Reliability 4/5
- Maintainer responsiveness 4/5
Our team uses it every day
Of the DataForSEO integrations I tried, this one is the most predictable. Being official from DataForSEO counts for a lot when I pitch it to security. I like that access goes through a proper sign-in instead of a long-lived secret on disk. It is in our production agent and I sleep fine.
Used for Spotting traffic drops early
- Setup & docs 4/5
- Auth experience 5/5
- Reliability 4/5
- Maintainer responsiveness 3/5
Quietly reliable
Installed it on a Friday, it was part of my workflow by Monday. Scoped the token to just what the agent needs and it respected that. The OAuth flow worked first time in Claude Code. Good choice if you need DataForSEO in your agent.
Used for Spotting traffic drops early
- Setup & docs 3/5
- Auth experience 3/5
- Reliability 4/5
- Maintainer responsiveness 3/5
Handy for dev, careful in prod
Good for experimenting, still deciding about production. I like that access goes through a proper sign-in instead of a long-lived secret on disk. Being official from DataForSEO counts for a lot when I pitch it to security. Recommended, with sensible guardrails.
Used for Competitor gap analysis
- Setup & docs 3/5
- Auth experience 3/5
- Reliability 4/5
- Maintainer responsiveness 5/5
Better than the DIY script it replaced
Hooked DataForSEO MCP Server into Claude Code and it worked on the first try. I like that access goes through a proper sign-in instead of a long-lived secret on disk. Would recommend without hesitation.
Used for Briefing writers with search data
- Setup & docs 5/5
- Auth experience 4/5
- Reliability 5/5
- Maintainer responsiveness 5/5
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